Source: FWS.govPress ReleaseThe U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is initiating a five-year review for the vicuña, a species belonging to the Camelidae family, to ensure the species has the appropriate level of protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The ESA requires the Service to review the status of federally-listed species at least once every five years. Other members of this family include camels, llamas and alpacas.

The Service is requesting information that has become available since the last review of the vicuña in 2002, when populations of vicuña in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru were reclassified as threatened under the ESA; the introduced population of vicuña in Ecuador retained its endangered status.

The review will assess: (1) whether new information suggests the species is increasing, declining, or stable; (2) whether existing threats are increasing, unchanged, reduced, or eliminated; (3) if there are new threats; and, (4) if any new information or analysis questions any of the conclusions in the original listing determination as to the species’ classification. A species classification cannot be changed until the formal rulemaking process, including a public review and comment period, is complete.

Information may be submitted in writing to the Branch of Foreign Species, by the following methods:

The ESA provides a critical safety net for fish, wildlife and plants and has prevented the extinction of hundreds of imperiled species, as well as promoted the recovery of many others. The Service is engaged with conservation partners and the public in the search for improved and innovative ways to conserve and recover imperiled species. To learn more about the Endangered Species program’s Branch of Foreign Species, visit: http://www.fws.gov/endangered/what-we-do/international-activities.html. More....

The state Fish and Wildlife Commission on Friday adopted a rule that allows some pet and livestock owners to kill a wolf that is attacking their animals.

The rule applies only to animal owners in the eastern one-third of the state, where the gray wolf is no longer protected under the federal Endangered Species Act due to successful recovery. The rule would not apply in Chelan County, or in the Methow Valley, where wolves are still protected. The rule makes permanent an emergency rule adopted in April. Before the new rule, livestock owners had to obtain a permit from the state before killing a wolf. Livestock owners can now kill a wolf attacking their livestock without a permit. Any wolves killed must be reported to the state within 24 hours. Livestock owners must allow access to the property where the wolf was killed so the state can investigate and must give the dead wolf to the state. Commissioners also added goats, pigs, donkeys, mules, llamas and alpacas to the list of livestock for which owners can be compensated if killed by a wolf. The state previously compensated for only cattle, sheep and horses. Owners will also now be compensated for the market value of their losses regardless of whether the animals were being raised commercially.

Lions and tigers and bears. Snakes on a plane. A barrel full of monkeys. Newspaper headlines for the recent spate of smuggling cases involving exotic and endangered animals nearly write themselves.

While the headlines may be amusing, the facts of the illicit trade in wild animals are from a laughing matter. Most people will have fumed in anger at the Emirati man who is alleged to have tried to leave Bangkok with a suitcase stuffed with four leopard cubs, a Malayan sun bear and a red-cheek marmoset, all endangered species. And they will no doubt have felt a sense of impotent indignation at the news on Tuesday that he got on a plane and fled the country, thereby escaping justice.The heart-wrenching story of the two young lions recently rescued in Abu Dhabi will have induced even deeper outrage. The ends of their paws had been amputated to remove their claws and their canine teeth had been filed down until the roots were exposed. The cruelty shown by their owners is contemptible. Sadly, it is not unique.On Sunday, a cheetah was spotted limping through the streets of Karama in the capital. Malnourished, the eight-month-old animal broke its chain presumably out of hunger and leapt from a rooftop, breaking a foreleg.Reports have trickled in over the years showing a slow, but steady trade in exotic species, often endangered, often imported in violation of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) and UAE law. The National has reported on tiger cubs being sold openly in the markets of the Emirates. More....

Source: Thenational.aeBy Carol Huang An Emirati man was arrested at Bangkok airport yesterday and charged with animal smuggling after officials discovered two suitcases filled with live baby leopards, a monkey, gibbon and bear.

N?M, 36, had been waiting to take a first-class Emirates flight from Suvarnabhumi Airport to Dubai just after midnight on Friday when staff opened his bag to find two sedated leopards hidden in flat cages.His suitcase contained a black leopard and a spotted leopard. A second bag was found nearby containing two further leopards, a Malayan Sun bear, a gibbon and marmoset.All the animals were thought to be less than two months old.N?M has only been charged in connection with the two leopards found in his luggage.Representatives from the UAE embassy in Bangkok accompanied him to the police station, where he was charged with violating the wild animal reservation and preservation act, before being released on bail, said Steve Galster, the director of Freeland, a largely US-funded non-profit organisation that works with local authorities to combat wildlife smuggling.Animal smuggling is common in Thailand, but this case was exceptional because of the variety of creatures discovered, said Mr Galster.“We see illegal wildlife shipments going through Thailand all the time. This one is unusual because it is exotic species being smuggled live,” he said.If found guilty, N?M faces up to four years in jail and a fine of 40,000 Thai baht (Dh4,900). However, wildlife traffickers caught in Thailand rarely end up serving time in prison, Mr Galster said.The UAE embassy in Bangkok and the Thai Nature Crime Police, who oversee animal smuggling, could not be reached yesterday.N?M visited Thailand regularly for business, said Bussara Tirakalyanapan, a senior programmes officer at Freeland, citing a police officer who had questioned the Emirati.It is thought Nature Crime Police officials had begun monitoring him from the time he purchased the animals. The bear and leopards would have cost about US$4,000 each (Dh14,700), said Mr Galster.The animals were allegedly delivered to the man after he arrived at the airport. Earlier news reports said there had been two macaque monkeys, rather than a gibbon and a marmoset, but this was not accurate, said Ms Tirakalyanapan.Police are searching for other suspects in the case, including at least one who may have been at the airport with N?M, she added. More....